The present invention relates to baseball or softball gloves. In particular, the present invention relates to a center webbed baseball glove which enhances a player's ability to catch a baseball by utilizing the natural fold of the player's hand and by increasing the exploitable surface area of the glove.
Whether a beginner or a professional, catching a baseball or softball is an essential skill which must be learned. Learning to catch a ball is especially difficult for younger players because they have limited coordination and strength. This problem is further complicated by existing baseball glove designs. There are few, if any baseball gloves which are designed to aid younger players. For example, most children and adults have relatively weak thumb strength. Existing glove designs, however, are configured so that a player must bring his or her thumb across the palm of the hand in order to close the glove. An added consequence of this is that only one third of the glove closes onto itself thus providing a small percentage of the total surface area of the glove for catching a ball. Thus, existing gloves rely purely on thumb strength and provide small surface area for catching a ball. A younger player would be better served if he or she could use the full gripping motion which would close the ring, pinky, middle and index fingers across the palm and could rely on the entire surface area of the glove for catching a ball.
One solution for lessening the strength required for a player to catch a baseball or softball is to simply shrink the size of the glove to better fit the player's hand. A smaller glove requires less effort to close and is more manageable, however, the smaller surface area requires greater hand to eye coordination because the player must be more precise when aligning the ball with the web and pocket of the glove.
Another solution is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,352 Ziedele! which discloses an enlarged glove with a symmetrical design. Ziedele fails, however, to realize any benefit from the symmetrical design because the glove utilizes a center finger slot surrounded by dual webbing. This finger positioning within Ziedele requires bringing the thumb across the wrist relying purely upon thumb strength to close the glove. Moreover, this finger positioning causes Ziedele to fold unevenly, thus under utilizing the surface area of the glove.
Therefore, it is desired that a baseball glove be provided which utilizes the natural fold of the human hand and increases the surface area of the glove which is used to catch a baseball.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a baseball glove which allows a player to catch a ball by squeezing the pinky, ring, middle and index fingers across the palm of the hand.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a baseball glove which features a center web and central pocket.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a baseball glove which is symmetrical and folds in half across a vertical centerline.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a baseball glove which prevents a ball from directly impacting with the palm of the hand.
Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a baseball glove which can be worn by a left or right handed player.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.